The DuPree African-American Pentecostal and Holiness Collection was compiled by Sherry Sherrod DuPree during research for her "Biographical Dictionary of African-American Holiness Pentecostals" (Washington, D.C.: Middle Atlantic Regional Press, 1989). Mrs. DuPree is a research librarian at Santa Fe Community College, Gainesville, Florida, a member of the Church of God in Christ, and the author of "Exposed!!! Federal Bureau of Investigation Unclassified Reports on Churches and Church Leaders" and "African-American Good News (Gospel) Music" (both Washington, D.C.: Middle Atlantic Regional Press, 1993). The DuPree African-American Pentecostal and Holiness Collection consists of original and secondary material documenting the history, beliefs, and activities of hundreds of Pentecostal and Holiness denominations, congregations, and individuals. The collection is arranged in four series: Denomination and Congregations, Individual Clergy and Evangelists, Subject Files, and Non-Pentecostal Material, and consists of news clippings, newsletters, journals, yearbooks, sermons, bulletins, brochures, programs, articles, theses, book excerpts, and other printed material. There is virtually no correspondence.

Biographical/historical information

The DuPree African-American Pentecostal and Holiness Collection was created as a result of research begun in 1981 by Sherry Sherrod DuPree for a Biographical Dictionary of African-American Holiness Pentecostals(Washington, D.C.: Middle Atlantic Regional Press, 1989). Mrs. DuPree, librarian at Santa Fe Community College, Gainesville, Florida, travelled throughout the United States to gather original and secondary material documenting the history, beliefs, and activities of hundreds of Pentecostal and Holiness denominations, congregations, and individuals.

The roots of African-American Pentecostalism are found in the Holiness movement of the late 19th century. That movement began as a reform movement within Methodism, endeavoring to purify the faith and seek a closer personal relationship with God. It taught that after conversion and water baptism a second experience, known as spiritual perfection or sanctification, was necessary for salvation.

A National Holiness Association was formed and held nearly 70 interdenominational camp meetings and revivals from 1867 to 1887. By the early 20th century, a number of African-American Holiness churches had been founded including the United Holy Church of America (1886), the Church of the Living God (CWFF), (1889), the Church of Christ Holiness (1897), and Fire Baptized Holiness Church (founded in 1898 but separated from the white denomination in 1908). In 1901, a white minister, Charles F. Parham, founded the Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas and articulated a third tenet for salvation, after water baptism and sanctification, known as baptism in the Holy Spirit. He further believed, based on his interpretation of Pentecost in the Book of Acts (Chapter 2), that glossolalia or speaking in tongues was the necessary evidence of spirit baptism.

By 1905, Parham had moved his ministry to Texas where he encountered William J. Seymour, an African-American Holiness preacher, who became one of his students. Seymour and Parham disagreed on a number of doctrinal and social issues, particularly regarding race, and Seymour gradually formulated his own Pentecostal theology. In 1906, while preparing to found a new church in Houston, Seymour accepted an invitation to preach the new “Pentecostal” doctrine to a black congregation in Los Angeles affiliated with the predominently white Church of the Nazarene. The Nazarene ministers were unsympathetic to Seymour's new gospel, forcing him and his followers to transfer their services in April 1906 to a private house and later an abandoned church that had been converted to a livery stable at 312 Azusa Street.

By the summer, the Azusa Street Mission was attracting thousands of converts of all races who were described by an observer as dancing, shouting, and, when approaching the altar, falling and often coming out speaking in tongues. The daily revival meetings continued until 1909. Although many whites withdrew to form their own churches, Seymour continued to preach at the Azusa Street Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission until his death in 1920.

Among those in attendance at Azusa Street was a Holiness minister, Charles Harrison Mason. Originally a Baptist evangelist from Arkansas, Mason had joined with another Baptist minister, Charles P. Jones, to hold revivals preaching sanctification in Mississippi in 1896, resulting in their expulsion from the State Baptist Association. In 1897, Jones called a Holiness Convention in Jackson, Mississippi leading to the creation of several Holiness congregations. Mason returned to Lexington, Mississippi to found the Church of God, which was incorporated in Memphis, Tennessee in 1897 as the Church of God in Christ. Upon his return from Azusa Street in 1907, he urged his congregation to embrace the practice of speaking in tongues. A faction led by Jones rejected this doctrine and reorganized as the Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. Mason's followers retained the name and property of the original Church of God in Christ.

In their The Black Church in the African American Experience(Durham: Duke University Press, 1990), C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence Mamiya wrote that because the Church of God in Christ was the only incorporated Pentecostal denomination in existence from 1907 to 1914, it was the sole ecclesiastical authority which could ordain ministers. By 1914, the realities of segregation caused white Pentecostal ministers ordained by Mason to organize the Assemblies of God. By 1924, most white constituents of remaining interracial churches withdrew to form their own churches, leaving little contact between black and white Pentecostals.

During the next decades, particularly following the massive migrations of African Americans to the urban North, Pentecostalism continued to gain momentum resulting in congregations uniting to form dozens of new denominations. The largest of these included Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (1906), Triumph the Church and Kingdom of God in Christ (founded as a congregation in 1902 but incorporated in 1918), Apostolic Overcoming Holiness Church (1916), Bible Way Church World Wide (founded as a congregation in 1927 and incorporated as a denomination in 1957), and United House of Prayer (1926). The Church of God in Christ (COGIC), which grew under Mason's personal leadership rather than from a grass roots movement, became the largest denomination growing to 400,000 members by the mid-1920s. It now numbers about 4 million members.

From their beginnings at Asuza Street, many Holiness and Pentecostal denominations have been fragmented and divided on matters of doctrine and practice including glossolalia and other charismatic gifts, trinitarian versus oneness doctrine, the role of women, and organizational structure. Permanent splits in denominations have occurred as a result of these and other personal and legal conflicts. COGIC International separated from the parent body in 1969 following the death of Charles Mason in 1961 and extended turmoil concerning lines of authority. The Apostolic Faith Churches of God have also had several splits as have the Church of the Living God, the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, and the United Holy Church.

In some ways, development of the Pentecostal and Holiness churches has followed older Protestant denominations which also began as reform movements. Church buildings and bureaucracies are now larger and more modern. Generational change has brought an increased attraction for professionals and community leaders, although there remains a force which draws those in the lower socio-economic levels. In addition, many older Protestant denominations as well as Catholicism have seen a growth of Pentecostal and Holiness believers in their ranks in the form of Charismatic Renewal or Neo-Pentecostal movements.

Scope and arrangement

The DuPree African-American Pentecostal and Holiness Collection consists of original and secondary material documenting the history, beliefs, and activities of hundreds of Pentecostal and Holiness denominations, congregations, and individuals. The collection is arranged in four series: Denomination and Congregations, Individual Clergy and Evangelists, Subject Files, and Non-Pentecostal Material, and consists of news clippings, newsletters, journals, yearbooks, sermons, bulletins, brochures, programs, articles, theses, book excerpts, and other printed material. There is virtually no correspondence.

The greatest amount of material is represented by the Church of God in Christ, the largest Pentecostal denomination. Other denominations for which significant bodies of material exist include Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, United Holy Church of America, and Bible Way Churches Worldwide.

The Individual Clergy and Evangelists series contains articles, chapters of books, news clippings, programs, sermons and other printed material documenting lives of Pentecostal ministers as well as independent evangelists, such as Father Divine (a.k.a. George Baker), William S. Crowdy, Prophet Jones (a.k.a. James Francis Jones), Robert C. Lawson, Arenia C. Mallory, Charles H. Mason, Lucy Smith, and Smallwood Williams.

The Subject Files series contains primarily articles, excerpts from books, theses and other printed matter concerning Pentecostal and related topics such as glossolalia, charismatic movement, gospel music, and whites in Pentecostalism. The fourth series, Non-Pentecostal Material, contains general bibliographies and articles on the black church, black Hebrews, and race and religion.

The African-American Pentecostal and Holiness collection is arranged in four series:

The DENOMINATIONS AND CONGREGATIONS SERIES, 1930-1989, (4 linear feet)contains clippings, newsletters, journals, yearbooks, bulletins, brochures, programs, articles, and other printed material documenting the history and activities of the scores of African-American Pentecostal and Holiness denominations. There is virtually no correspondence. The larger denominations, particularly Bible Way Church World Wide, Church of God in Christ (COGIC), Church of Christ (Holiness), Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Church of the Living God (CWFF), Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, and United Holy Church, include a wider range of material than the smaller ones which are primarily limited to miscellaneous clippings from the African-American press.

The larger denominations with multiple folders are arranged by format, such as publications or programs. In the case of COGIC, by far the largest denomination represented, there are also separate folders for individual congregations arranged by state and for subjects. The size of the COGIC material reflects both its considerable growth and the donor's membership in a COGIC congregation in Florida. Small independent congregations for which there are single items are arranged by state.

Those denominations whose folders contain anniversary yearbooks or journals with a comprehensive denominational history and financial and personnel information include Bible Way Church World Wide; Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth; Church of God by Faith; Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith; Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God; Pentecostal Assemblies of the World; COGIC; Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith; and United Holy Church of America.

Denominations whose folders containing church newspapers or other assorted manuals of historic significance dating from the 1930s include Bibleway Churches Worldwide, Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, COGIC, Church of God by Faith, Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God, and Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. The newspapers often reprint sermons, discuss reports from congregations or committees, document the activities of church leaders, give wide coverage to annual conferences and anniversary celebrations, and comment on current events.

The clippings scattered throughout the collection are primarily from the African-American press dating from the 1940s to the 1970s. The newspapers which predominate are the Chicago Defender,the Los Angeles Sentinel,the Indianapolis Recorder,and the Kansas City Call.The clippings record the activities of the congregations documenting musical events, speakers, conferences, organizational changes, and obituaries. There are some references to secular political events such as Emmett Till's funeral held at Roberts Temple COGIC in Chicago in 1955 and Martin Luther King's final speech at the COGIC Mason Temple in Memphis in 1968.

Similarities in names of denominations are often the result of historic divisions, such as those occurring in the Apostolic Faith Church of God, the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, and the United Holy Church of America. The “Church of God” folder may include several different denominations as there are more than ten separate Churches of God whose congregations are often difficult to distinguish, particularly in newspaper articles.

Material relating to denominations led by one individual for many years may be found in the DENOMINATIONS AND CONGREGATIONSSeries as well the INDIVIDUAL CLERGY AND EVANGELISTSSeries. The latter is primarily biographical in nature. For example, researchers interested in the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith should consult the denomination folders as well as that of the founder Robert Lawson; material relating to Bible Way Church World Wide may also be found in the Smallwood Williams folders; for COGIC see also Charles H. Mason; for United House of Prayer see Daddy Grace. For Apostolic Faith Church of God (Washington, D. C.) or its Middle Atlantic Regional Gospel Music Festival see also E. Myron Noble, and for All Nations Church (Chicago) and its gospel broadcasts, see Lucy Smith.

Particularly unique biographical material, including sermons and writings often copied from private collections, is included in the folders of William S. Crowdy, Robert C. Lawson, and Charles Harrison Mason. Mason's folder also contains copies of court documents and his FBI file.

The SUBJECT FILES SERIES, 1876-1989, (4.5 linear feet)consists primarily of articles, excerpts from books, theses, and other printed material concerning Pentecostal and related topics. The general History and general Pentecostalism folders include articles and book excerpts that refer to the overall history, beliefs, and practices of Pentecostals, both black and white, whereas the White Pentecostals and Holiness subject files contain material concerning only white denominations or individuals. When a separate black denomination was formed from a formerly integrated one, as in the case of the Fire Baptized Church in 1908, material relating to its general Church history is located in the DENOMINATIONS AND CONGREGATIONSseries. Articles and theses mentioning multiple denomination such as James Daniel Tyms's 1938 “A Study of Four Religious Cults Operating Among Negroes,” which discusses Father Divine, Daddy Grace, and others, are located in the History folders.

The White Pentecostals folders include articles and publications on denominations such as the Church of God (Cleveland, TN), Church of God (Anderson, IN), Assemblies of God, and Church of the Nazarene. There are also copies of memoirs or excerpts from memoirs of various independent evangelists and missionaries, one dating from 1876, but most from the first decade of the 20th century.

There is considerable printed material concerning the musical traditions of Pentecostal and Holiness churches, including programs, songsheets, articles, book excerpts, and clippings highlighting gospel music and its roots in the spiritual. The clippings document performances and broadcasts such as those by Lucy Smith's All Nations Pentecostal Church and Clarence Cobb's First Church of Deliverence, both in Chicago.

Several folders contain information concerning the Charismatic or Neo-Pentecostal movement which has grown in mainstream Protestant and Catholic churches worldwide since the 1950s. The movement, with its emphasis on the deeper spirituality manifested in spirit baptism and its enthusiastic worship, has attracted middle as well as working class members. The material consists almost entirely of articles and chapters from books.

Another extensive collection of articles, largely from scholarly journals, discusses the psychological and sociological aspects of Pentecostal churches, their members, and communities.

The NON-PENTECOSTAL MATERIAL SERIES, 1914-1989, (1.5 linear feet)includes folders for the African-American Church which contain general articles and excerpts from books on denominations such as Baptists, Methodists, and Black Hebrews, as well as individual clergy. Community Studies relates to general church or African-American studies in specific communities including St. Louis, Jersey City, and Franklin, Louisiana. The Worldwide Church of God folders are not directly related to the rest of the collection. It appears that a Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI for “Church of God” information resulted in the receipt of these files which concern the independent California organization founded by the radio evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong.